Country Musume was formed in 1999 and was billed as "Country Girls from Hokkaidō". The initial group consisted of members and Hokkaidō natives Rinne Toda, Azusa Kobayashi, and Hiromi Yanagihara. Shortly before release of their first single in July 1999, Yanagihara was killed in a car accident. After the tragedy, Kobayashi departed from the group and Toda carried on as a soloist, releasing 2 singles under the "Country Musume" name by herself. In summer of 2000, Asami Kimura was added to the group and the duo released one more single. Read more on Last.fm